it is disgraceful and criminal for you to do this. (applause) >> chairman nolan: next speaker. >> good afternoon. >> mark brewer, united taxicab workers. this is one of the bitterest days in the more than 20 years that i have been active on these issues; and i have seen many bitter base especially since his body took over. how can you listen to the heart-felt please, the angry-please and turn them away? and you will. you are not an objective decision-making policy. you are group that has your own interests, that conflict with the interests of the

people in this room. and you are simply turning away from them, and feeding your own coffers. just to give you a figure, i added what you have thus far gain from medallions sales, and what you expect again and leases, it's over 75 million. could be hundred million or more. depending what you did in your future. i know this lights up some of your hearts because that is what you are after. you are taking the futures of people who have put their lives into this industry and you are turning it into your own benefit, your own profit, their own use, and the hell with them.

go ahead and do it. we'll see you in court. we'll see you in the ballot box. (sigh) i don't know what else to say. you're living it will the other thing i will say -- i hate the comments on the particulars of the proposal i find odious, there is no guarantee on anything here even for those top 150. all it says is that they are entitled to return medallions. somebody has to die or a medallion have to be revoked before they have a guarantee of that the down. and only if his board would later approve the issuance of new medallions to those people could even the tiniest fraction of them ever expect to see a medallion.

this is heartless, cruel. this is beyond words. thank you. (applause) >> >> >> in the famous stanford university experiment volunteers were asked to deliver a series of electric shocks, stronger and stronger each time, i unseen victim in the next room. even though the lodges could hear the victim screaming, they still pulled a lever. the researchers was done. the suppose most individuals possessed a higher conscience that would force them at some point to stop torturing a fellow human being. during follow-up interviews, dissident explain that the

fact that the authority figure present in the room allow them to override their consciousness. and authority figure present encouraging them to pull the lever, they felt no choice but to keep pushing the lever. you are inflicting real pain on real people. we watched pull the lever year after year everyone knows that not one of you would advise the scheme on your own. not one of you is cruel enough to be ramrod. you have a circle of friends and neighbors, and i'm sure you will not tell them over dinner today i stole the future

of the family from a guy from mexico who was driving a cab 20 years; a real person afraid to come here intimidated by all of you. asset protection. classic mitt romney, capitalism; -- [indiscernible] he is going to say look at all the cab driver butt i kicked, vote for me. on the city street if you saw a bully robbing a kid you would interven or call 911. i wish this were a secret vote. you would not get a vote.

we know how you will vote. you would know how you will say to the lowest paid workers in the city, go to hell. prove me wrong. i would love to come back here and apologize. >> [indiscernible] >> i am not a taxicab driver. this whole business of the medallions is a broken promise; they signed on to be taxidrivers with the hope of having a medallion. now, all of you on this board - i am sure receive retirement benefits. their promise to you. if they were denied to you you

would go to court; you would be very angry more angry than these people in this room. if you are going to pass this resolution i think all of you should give up your retirement benefits, sign them over, and put them in the mta fund don't take a tax deduction. you have to make sacrifices to. and you better sleep on this. (applause) > this will be my third time. i would like to thank mr. chairman for giving us this time. in 1985 when i started driving

taxis, i used to live here in the city around -- and i'd take the 90 bus to go to work. the bus driver - we became friends. and the metah officer, we used to take the bus at the same time too, 1988. since 1988, the driver, the muni driver, i know is retired now. the officer i know has retired with full benefits, 40 acres [indiscernible] -- all i did when i signed up for the waiting list was to have my own 40 acres -- [indiscernible] so that i can have my time when i retired, with the time i put in.

i have seen everyone here on the board, you are here to help the city, individual stakeholders. i agree with the proposal here that smpta put on, the goal is to help stakeholders. how can you help stakeholders when we have side cabs that advertise on your website, putting 1500 private cabs on the street. a all that we ask was to give everyone on the waiting list the medallion to compete. we want everyone to make money. we want everyone the lives in the city they can call the cab

company and get a cab in 5 minutes. i everyone would be happy. when i started driving, i used to go to the airport in 1988. and during that time, driving around, i would see your signs. you work for the public. you have a sign, running for supervisor of san mateo county. you give your life to the public. [indiscernible] being on the board means you want to help the people of san francisco. help everyone by voting no.

>> the last two people have turned in the speaker card. >> i was not going to speak, i don't like to talk to walls but i thought again. i like the sound of my own voice. this conversation started with director heinicke. and i said to him, i think that you are up to nefarious things. >> he asked if i thought that i was receiving personal profit. >> perhaps he was not. it doesn't take -- the people who do the real harm in the world are people who sacrificed other people for a few abstractions as in this quote from director heinicke's e-mail, which i

believe is inappropriate. it said the nta must have revenue; if we do not push for that we are sacrificing the needs of the city to placate a few cabdrivers. this reminded me of something i read 20 years ago, from a book by joseph brosky, a russian, who grew up in stalinist russia, he wrote an essay on evil. at the end it says, no matter how evil your enemy is the crucial thing is that he is human. although incapable of loving another like ourselves, evil takes root when one man starts to think he is better than another which is what you have here. you are listening to these people how you are ruining their lives,

and you are saying there's nothing we can do about it because you are serving the public. what you can take from this is a city small amounts compare to what the city needs, this is not going to solve the city's deficit problems because the deficit problems are endemic. the start of the federal government. it starts with a policy of war. does not come from cabdrivers. what you are doing would have little effect of the budget robin; it will have a devastating effect on those people. i know this will not have no effect on director heinicke, but i will hope that the rest of you will take about this change your mind about what you have already decided to do. thank you very much. [indiscernible] >> hi i am barry [indiscernible]

i don't have a whole lot to say because i have already been saying it, and people have been saying the same thing. cabdrivers are some of the lowest paid people here; they may have busy nights, the ones who work the good shifts might make some money but the others have to work this slow shifts; they make around 25,000 here, they stay in the business hoping to get a medallion, and what you guys are doing is taking the money that a career cabdrivers look forward to, they don't get any benefits, they don't get employee protection, there are days that you don't make minimum wage and they are looking forward to becoming a medallion holder.

i know 150,000 dollars sounds like a great deal saving 150,000. but you are not saving 150,000 if you have worked all your life to earn this medallions. it is wrong what you are doing; i don't house to put it. medallion is an operating permit. the drivers are the ones who go out and risk their lives, wear their backs out, dave and after years. you feel the mta is more deserving of money to pay off the debt.

none of this project it revenues going back into the tax industry; very little. maybe have a lane where taxis can drive. you are not doing very much to crack down on illegal operators. whether or not this is legal or other things are legal, there are vehicles with no commercial plates, no insurance, fake cabs, why did you put some of this money into investigators, and put out more legitimate cabs. your may priority here is making money for the mta and that is not providing a good

service to the community. (applause) >> [indiscernible] >> chairman nolan: if anyone cares to address the board, please fill out a card. >> good afternoon - [indiscernible] i have a deep problem. i'm holding onto this problem for six months. the doctors told me you have a gum problem, lost four teeth in the last three years. i have no medical. i cannot get free medical because i middle-of-the-road. every day i have medicine in my pocket. thanks director heinicke.

this is what you're delivering. majority the drivers used to be white. no longer. now you have 500 nepalese. 0 mongolians, now hundreds. you decided to kill their living, get them out, and finish the livelihoods. that's what -- one drive called -- others are blacks. used to sing a song in the churches about mankind, what mankind is doing, this kind of behavior and me. what did i do wrong?

this is what you are doing to the taxidrivers. these medallions will be worth .000 pennies soon. they will even go to the ballot and get from the voters approval; what would you do with these medallions then? the financing will be bankrupt. you are running into a big risk now. if the public says yes, what is the outcome of this medallion? if you vote 400 on the meter, you -- [indiscernible] they are putting $80 more in the taxidriver's pocket. is this medallion worth any

money after? it is never happen in the 50 years before. [indiscernible] the technology is going to take it over. you will be sorry for the whole game now. look at the situation, not about selling the medallions. stop the ideology. thank you. >> chairman nolan: does anyone else care to address the board? >> peter webb. >> happy thanksgiving. do you really think that this is the way you should be operating our business? i would like to thank dean for coming down here and speaking for drivers. he can say what he says simply because he does not drive a cab anymore. i can talk about tires and

lights. i'm not going to. i would like also to thank all the drivers that came here today and cycle the drivers that came here the last time and waited 2-3 hours for one minute conversation, a one-way conversation with deaf ears. cold-blooded was used. i like the words "maggot", the lowest form of creature i do. it can come out of nowhere and suck on dead meat. if you are thriving - if you think the taxi business is thriving and wallowing in money left and right, think again. they say money is the root of all evil. i think we have an epiphany here.

is this -- at the least, i think your job is to maintain drivers income so it doesn't go downhill. i surely don't think that is the direction that this industry is going, this taxi industry. san francisco is a very weird city, politically high strung. seems to act on whims and notions. and from the upper. the direction comes from the top down. from staff down to you. with your blind obedience, deaf ears, and extremely dumb. if you are not dumb, you are corrupt. if you are not dumb or corrupt,

you are delusional, and in denial. i would like to say that "dumb" is my choice for you. i will like to think that there is hope to educate you and that you will grow and make this industry flourish. and service will be great. i can tell you that -- i do not get that impression, driving 24 years. peter -- native san franciscan. i am disgusted >> chairman nolan: anyone else care to address the board. >> i declare the public hearing close. >> chairman nolan: ms. -- would like to speak to any of the points raised? ms. hyoshi, could you come forward.

could you comment on -- the point was raised about how this will work on day one in what the person could do with that. could you talk about that a little bit. >> yes, thank you. chris hyoshi, deputy director of taxis and accessible services. the proposal you have before you to give a 50 percent discount to the first 150 qualified applicants on the waiting list would not apply only to the first 150 on the waiting list; it will apply to the first 150 qualified applicants and is certainly going to reach beyond 150; likely to reach closer to 200-250, down on the waiting list. those individuals will not be required to put down any down payment. and perhaps the san francisco federal credit union is here and they can talk about if you are interested, what the

credit qualification requirements would be under the circumstances where you are acquiring an acid that is worth 300,000 dollars for a loan of 150,000 dollars; that is why there is no down payment required; there is substantial equity guaranteed and that asset. if somebody were to receive one of those medallions and qualify for that loan, and if they were to qualify to transfer the medallion % upon at the time they got it my age or disability, they would not have to wait any period of time to transfer that again. they would be able to realize the equity in the acid immediately. >> chairman nolan: could you talk about a difference in this and where it is before this?

>> today based on the action taking motherboard on august 21, establishing the medallion price of 300,000, if this was not passed somebody at the top of the waiting list would have to them up with a down payment of 15,000 at least. and borrow 240,000. both the down payment will be substantially higher than the payments on the loan would be substantially higher. that person also the qualified but age or disability would be able to immediately transfer the medallion but there would be no equity in the asset and they would be little reason to do so. >> chairman nolan: would like to add anything at this point? >> director rubke: speakers commented about how this does

not address ramp medallions. what is the plan addressing those folks? how quickly will that be on the calendar? >> under the pilot program if they were qualified to transfer the medallion, and they had a ramp medallion, we don't want us to be bought and sold; those are important to ensure accessible transportation. would allow that person to exchange it for an available sedan medallion, and give the ramp medallion the somebody else on the list and that person could transfer the sedan medallion in its place. that seems to be a reasonable approach for ramp medallion holders; we have to talk to the industry about this and make a policy decision.

i'm not sure whether or not that will require further legislation. i have to talk the city attorney's office about that. i'm glad that you asked the question. begins with the opportunity to announce that we will have a town hall meeting on the subject on monday the 26th, will discuss this with industry and come up with a proposal is in as we can. one thing we do we do recognize is the uncertainty, is not something we want to maintain. >> chairman nolan: i would ask question. several people raised the safety issue and the lack of inspectors. can you comment on that? >> we have 4 taxi investigators, no substantial field presence. we are in the process of hiring for additional positions, and we

will have teams of investigators in the field most of the time. we can cover most of the days in the week, and most of the hours of the day with teams of 2 investigators. >> chairman nolan: the drivers fund, what is going on with that? >> the drivers fund continues to accumulate funding; it has over 3 million dollars. there is no determination as to what to do with it. however i recently came back - and one of the suggest some might advances that, i came from the international association of transportation regulars conference last week and i heard the city of new york is planning on issuing a request a proposal for drivers healthcare. in order to increase the level of coverage. i want to talk to new york city and other jurisdictions about leveraging multiple cities